Summary
Viruses are a fact of computing life now. All POS systems must contend
with the potential presence of a virus at any time. This creates an additional
risk for retail operations in that the operation may be impacted at any
time without warning. For retailers who are not interested in the internals
of Virus management, Fieldpine have the following recommendations:
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Purchase and use anti virus software and collect the updates regularly.
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If possible only use the POS machines for POS.
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Backup all systems at regular intervals.
Versions of Fieldpine POS from V2.4.5.4 contain built-in virus detection,
but you should not rely solely on this to detect a virus.
Virus Overview
A virus, as used in the computer sense, is a piece of unwanted or unexpected
code running on your machine. A virus works by infecting one or more programs
and attempting to replicate itself so it can be passed on to other machines.
There are three main effect of viruses on systems:
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The ability for a virus to perform unwanted actions. This can range
from playing a tune on a certain date, a minor inconveniece to disrupting
system operation by deleting files or changing the action of a program.
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The load and resources consumed by virus itself as it runs.
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The effect of trying to replicate itself by mailing itself to others and
hiding in files that are copied from one machine to another.
We reviewed virus technology and techniques and based on this, we feel
that even if we move platform from Windows to Linux or another operating
system platform, it will not reduce the potential for virus infection.
Virus writers are skilled programmers. We cannot hope to build barriers
to keep them out effectively. |
POS Anti Virus
Fieldpine POS (V2.4.5.4) includes built in Virus detection. Detection is
series of checks on the POS program when it starts to see if it has been
infected. This checking is only on some POS programs and is not designed
as a complete virus detection. Virus detection has been added to the POS
because in many environments, the POS is the only application on the system,
and therefore most likely to be infected.
This virus detection will not detect all possible viruses.
Fieldpine's Aim
When dealing with viruses on systems, Fieldpine has the following aims:
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We accept that virus infection is a fact of life, and while operational
procedure can reduce the risk of infection, it is unlikely to eliminate
it.
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If a virus is directly infecting our programs or impacting our operation,
we try to identify its presence.
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If a virus is detected, we are more interested in techniques to quickly
rebuild the machine then investigate the exact source or removal extract.
This follows our aim of very high availability at counter level.
Fieldpine Recommends
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Back up your POS system regularly.
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Know where your back up is and how to extract information off it. If you
are using a specialist backup program practise it on a file that you create
for the purpose so you know how to run it.
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In general programs will be infected not data files or other Fieldpine
files such as help and User Interface. You would need to be able to delete
the .exe files and .dll files and restore them from a backup.
If you do get a virus infection in the POS
look at the information on www.fieldpine.com support web pages
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